Chapter 229: B3: C19: German Suplex
Zarian jolted out of his bedroll. Something attached to his back yanked him to a sudden stop, leading to his hand plowing through the stone floor before he slipped and smacked his face, forming a crater three feet wide and half a foot deep.
Laying still, he caught his breath while still halfway into the dream world. He vaguely recalled there being a laughing jokester who caught him by the waist and flipped him into…
Zarian shook his head. He focused on the present moment. He saw behind him that his parasite was rooted into the courtyard floor and further below. That was the reason he jerked to a stop suddenly.
Using the perception of his Aura Mastery, a quick scan revealed Para had kept busy while he slept for who knew how long. The cloak had stretched, expanded, and became an exploratory structure of root-like tentacles.
She’d spread herself ridiculously far while conducting a monstrous crusade of legendary proportions. Caverns where there should’ve been monsters deep under the surface were barren of them, allowing more casual flora and fauna to exist undisturbed.
If he were to check his notifications for defeats, he would probably get a waterfall of enemy types that Para had consumed, let alone the ones they’d beaten in the Grimrock Hell Gate.
Zarian directed his aura perception to follow a specific stalk of Para’s growth and saw why she hadn’t turned her attention to him – she was in the middle of fighting corrupted creatures burrowed deep under the castle mountains. He felt his aura dip and rise as Para cast multiple spells, drained aura out of the monsters, and swung many whips and scythes and whatnot.
He also noticed a camp of humans hanging out near the battle wall in the basin over yonder, about a mile away. It wasn’t hard for Zarian to figure out most of them were adventurers from the Windy Strider Kingdom.
Para had roots and growths spread underneath them. At any moment, she could slaughter and consume all a thousand of them.